State Public Affairs Committee

Junior League of Riverside has a long history of high-level involvement with state government through our work with SPAC. SPAC is a collaboration of Junior Leagues from throughout the state who work together to support legislation related to our focus area.

The State Public Affairs Committee (SPAC) for the Junior Leagues of California is a non-partisan education and advocacy organization charged with promoting volunteerism and legislation favorable to the community projects of the sixteen (16) Junior Leagues that SPAC represents. The entire advocacy efforts of SPAC are targeted to legislation within the following four focus areas, which reflect the focus areas of SPAC’s member Junior Leagues:

Education: SPAC is committed to ensuring that all children and young adults receive educational opportunities that are developmentally appropriate, increase academic achievement, and lead to workplace marketability.

Family Support: SPAC is committed to advocating for programs and policies that promote the physical and emotional well-being of all families.

Health: SPAC is committed to advocating for better access to quality health care and prevention programs that will improve mental and physical health of our community members.

Violence Prevention: SPAC is committed to addressing the impact of violence in our communities through prevention, intervention and education.

Since 1971, SPAC has represented the interests of its member Junior Leagues to policy makers at the state and local levels. The collective voice of this non-partisan group represents more that thirteen thousand (13,000) voting women in over sixteen (16) communities throughout California. For over thirty (30) years, SPAC has been successful in sponsoring and supporting many pieces of important legislation including: (i) legislation establishing the "Children's Bicycle Helmet Law", (ii) legislation enhancing penalties for committing domestic violence in the presence of a minor, (iii) legislation establishing the "Kids License Plate" to fund child abuse prevention and injury, and (iv) legislation providing breast cancer treatment for uninsured women and, in 2010 thanks in large part to the Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee, May is now Perinatal Depression Awareness Month in California.

The SPAC delegation is comprised of two members from each of the following California Junior Leagues: Bakersfield, Fresno, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Monterey County, Napa-Sonoma, Oakland-East-Bay, Orange County, Palo Alto - Mid Peninsula, Pasadena, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara. The advocacy activities of SPAC delegates include: (i) researching, analyzing and drafting legislation, (ii) advocating for community programs and taking positions on legislation, (iii) leveraging support for legislation by building coalitions with other community groups, (iv) meeting with legislators, (v) testifying at committee hearings, and (vi) hosting three annual statewide conferences to train SPAC delegates and coordinate advocacy efforts.

What People Are Saying

Being a member of the Junior Leagues of California State Public Affairs Committee (CalSPAC) was one of my most memorable League placements. CalSPAC showed me that its member Leagues, representing nearly 10,000 women statewide, have a unified mission advocating for policies that improve the lives of California women, children and families. Personally speaking, I learned not only about the legislative process, but I learned how to play an active and important role in that process. CalSPAC provided the tools I needed to track legislation, analyze bills, present bills to the CalSPAC delegation for a vote, meet with legislators to talk about bills that were important to us, and to send letters of support/opposition to legislators and legislative committees. I witnessed first-hand the effect of advocacy – its positive impact on the passage of important legislation and, ultimately, the benefit to our local communities.

-Jennifer Cummings

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